Scarlet
by Sapadu
Summary: AU from Episode III. Suppose Padme lived and everyone discovered she was pregnant. Based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. Warning: Dark themes, religious hints, and Ye Olde English DISCONTINUED, SRY GUYS.
1. The Marketplace

Scarlet

By Sapadu

Before the Senate stood a lone figure. The figure was not, however, a single person. Indeed, the woman that stood upon the ostracized platform was clothed, so dully and dark, if it weren't for the rhythmic movement of the crimson mark upon her breast, none would have suspected life to be possessed of this motionless stock.

Around, a buzz of murmurs, the gossip muttered among themselves of the shame brought forth in the room. About the hussy so brought out, dark robed members of great importance with decisions to make and power at will so shouted and harassed the poor sap upon the stand. The latter did not rise to their jeers, nor stand to shield against the shame- it was borne upon her, seared into her, deeply, moreso that could never be healed or lifted. She heard not, saw not, spoke not of the evil that surrounded her, and her alone, the product of which rested one on each of her arms.

Silence fell upon the congregation as in entered the oldest of ministers with no holy power onto the pulpit. He, followed by his loyal servants and persons of lesser power around him, stood, covered in black, a singularly powerful figure, with no particular aura of power, but he had but gather'd it from those unwilling with the force of that one who stood on his right. This man, also robed in black, wretched as much as his master, bore a face of young, and possessed in but one arm the power to kill any unwilling to bow before the louse who was his master.

Senator Amidala stood before the throng, the two lumps resting on her arms pressed against her body, for whence these marks had been brought forth, it was also the place they desired to remain as close to as possible- the womb of the once proud senator had been their home weeks ago, and the two clung to their haven as a hermit crab does it's shell. All about had seen the little faces of these sin-borne creatures, as but a reminder of the fine line between a proud mother and a throw-a-way hussy.

"Senator Amidala- stand and face-up towards the crowd. All here know now of the evil doings you have brought about on yourself. Must you need now continue to hold yourself in silence when it is known- an unmarried woman, no less- to bear twin children without explanation? Any can see you are not alone in this- now, speak, here fore, and give the name of the other criminal who brought forth those children in your arms." Declared the man on the louse's left, pointing a bold finger forth towards the badge that now identified the difference between the lass and the gossip around her.

Senator Amidala shook her head, and disobeyed the command to look.

"Hark! She does not speak!" Cried a Senator in the hustle. Abrupt all around came noise, in protest against the arrogance and utter discordia a simple head gesture should incite. Senator Amidala's ears were block'd to the sounds product of the angered persons surrounding her, and she thus held her ground, though a pallid sweep through her cheeks made itself known, and brought with it a certainty of the utter despair and disgrace that stooped her shoulders.

"Senator Amidala, it holds no reason for you to withhold such details that are of no harm to you when revealed- what purpose of good should the secrecy of the father's identity hold to you? For such a simple reason, Senator, speak of your partner!" Inquired a member of the Senate, with no authority to stand, but much more to have control of strings on one lower than himself.

"I will not speak. Such is the disgrace already, I'll not be a stool as well as unchaste." Declared the ashamed Padme, who stood on her black pedestal, as though about to be flung into the darkest of fires should she utter a name. The louse, who stood above all, in his blackened robes of divinity, turned to his right, and requested upon his servant to take a place in the questioning.

"Senator, see reason- whoever may be this man guilty of the Scarlet Letter now engraved upon your bosom, he will stand to more shame than you in this room. There is but little to lose, and much to be gained, so wherefore should you seek to silence any utterance of name? All will know, and few not regret. The knowledge you withhold would but obstruct justice and balance in the system- speak the name which not but you and this other thus know." The younger was soft and quiet, as words of the motherly persuasion flowed from his lips forth to the floor and with such intensity and kindness that would have made a mountain crumble to pieces. However, such a small, shielded stone as the one in the hussy's breast wouldn't be moved, naught for wind nor rain, nor any shower of gold.

"Should I say any name for justice, it would be to the doubt of those around and not other judgment. Saddle me with no shame other than that I rightfully earned- shalt I but give the license to the loss of the other two scarlet letters I bear in my arms, nor invite the scorn of all others on account that I might seek to deceive them." She replied, not looking up towards those who might salvage her from a prison.

"What's this? Mercy of womanly heart, but she will not speak!" Gasped many of the congregation. Palpatine lifted his withr'd head and peered at the Senator, with orbs that shattered glass and saw through lies, yet could not discern any revelation of a father. 'Twas as though there weren't one at all.

"If no father shall be uttered before any man in this Senate, it will be before the solitude and curse that will reside with you always that this court shalt have a name. Keep in your arms and soul the sin you have before the Senate today, Senator Amidala, but know this- whether by his own desire or the will of a demented fate, the second God of your pearls shall come into the light, and none shall reveal it, but the Scarlet Letter the both of you will bear." The louse's finger, gnarled and knotted like a withered twig, with an utterance of supremacy only he could spout, made for the sear that blazed between the black and the dark.

Two crimson garbed tyrants of the louse's blood came forth and took each a wrung in their grip which supported one of the babes, and with forced compliance pulled the ashamed Padme from the room into a night of lonesome and cold.

A/N: Okay, this might seem screwy now, but Hawthorne had an even WORSE style of writing. It's kind of an exaggeration of how wordy his writing was, and I'm not telling you how far this deviates from the canon. In other words, Anakin may or may not be the father.

If you've read carefully and have also read the Scarlet Letter, you should already know.


	2. The Jail

Scarlet

By Sapadu

Not much was asked of Padme as the doors thrown open to a small confinement- her harsh treatment was subject to that of no kindness, nor any right of a human being, and she allowed it, unwilling and unable to fight back without bringing a grievance upon her soul. The babes she carried wailed in misery and nothing could consol them, even the sound of a motherly lullaby.

The guards stood outside the door and waited for their master- the air remained warm and the muffled cries of the little ones remained in motion of the air, and no one in the prison or out of it had much to fear. However, as the clock turned to an upright position, a cold stillness broke the spell and sent stabs of ice and fire into all who stood with their hearts open to attack. The louse had come, to suck out the blood of his victims, called as subjects are to a king.

With a swift motion of his hand and no particular words, the Emperor brushed the guards to the side as they bent to him, moving aside and allowing entrance into the cell, as though it were his own dwelling.

"Senator Padme," Said he to the huddled mass, cringing over her treasure to save their blood with her own, "Rise." And to no will of her own, as the louse pulled the strings on his fingers, her feet supported her and she was bound against the wall. Still, the baby twins continued to wail and warble, like the ill song of a bird and the cat whom had pounced.

"Silence to them- I have a matter to discuss." Emperor Palpatine thrust his hand at the babes, only bringing more grief onto their mother, as she pulled them tighter against her breasts and the scarlet letter seemed to burn them as they too, screamed.

"I would if could I, but the beasts will not be tamed. Whatever hide of whip you lash upon them, their skins are tougher, thicker, and not even I can change that." Padme replied, her head in apology of the offence, which she committed without her body asking for her permission. Even the groveling on the floor that her soul thrust out, the louse found no satisfaction and sent a blow into her, that reeled her across the room, back into the very depths of her subconsciousness.

"Senator Amidala, straighten thyself. Be prideful of modesty- set an example. If thou art so helpless, how came about these two? Thou art more promiscuous then the act you put on, do not lie- put on no show for me, not before my new subjects." The louse pointed his sucker to the two quailing babes, whom seemed to know that some mischief had befallen their mother and had no intention of leaving her in silence and darkness.

"If thou dost know the whole truth, tell me off before all, and then let me suffer in peace. Or would thou be here to return everyone to the state of before the incident- leave me childless, the father never to have spawned, and thyself still in control of all life that breeds?" The rebellious remark burned itself out, warming the frozen cell with fiery defiance and calming the numbed hearts of her two little ones.

The louse lost his will to feed at these words, with his prey of blood dried and impossible to suck. For a while, his moment seemed gone, and the pitiful hussy who'd lost her position had stolen instead, a more profitable prize of the Emperor's tongue. However, upon drawing himself up to his full status, the louse could only return with a venomous sting.

"Now, Senator, you know the grief of the Senate for infanticide. And for what benefit of mine would it be to rid the world of such symbols of sin? Even if I did a mercy to thou, the Scarlet Letter forever should be engraved on thy soul." The Emperor pressed a finger against the red letter A on Padme's breast, and from the way she cringed and gasped and fell away to the floor, 'twas as though a hot iron had burnt it upon her skin.

Sensing the plight of his holder, the little son Padme held in her arms reached up and dug his barely grown teeth into the louse's wither'd skin. A scream echoed in the room as blood spilled forth, just barely a dribble, but enough that the taste of it lingered on the youngling's tongue and the warmth of the metallic sanguiem touched his sister's chilled head. Padme curled into herself into a shield against any forboding attack that should arise from the fury of a ruler scorned, while the louse cringed and hissed as a snake would, before arising to his full height.

"If this is the fate you bring upon yourself, mark this- no child grows well who tastes blood in their first year. Keep yourself with your sin. Make a way in the world for you. But, never welcome are you again to the floor and else you remain silent and alone, never again shall any of your kin see the sun." Old Palpatine warned, extending his finger. Padme glared up in defiance.

"I'd rather be in shadows evermore than live under a sun that gives the likes of thee light." She replied with all the warmth that an iced Emperor could have shown as the light from outside the door slimmed until the shadows had returned.

A/N: Sorry this chapter took so long, but exams are coming up for me- school is a hellish nightmare.


	3. The Imp Child and her Demon Brother

Scarlet

By Sapadu

A night had passed and the guards showed no pity upon the next day as Padme left, out into the forest of Coruscant's streets. She and her babes disappeared to the deepest of the wilderness, and came into the life of a hermit, holed up in her shell to raise her babes.

But no one can live on their own- humans are creatures of social habit, as a living structure that permits no monksmanship. Padme had no means of suckling the two little ones, but fate will provide a bloodied cup to those in need who have faith: Padme had knowledge of the law, which few ever had, but many sought. So very many grateful folk gave her coins in their thanks for her advice and knowledge, but if their eyes fell on the Scarlet Letter upon her breast, the poor woman hung her head and gently turned them off with their new knowledge.

As such, everyone knew, in whispers behind their hands when seven years later, three wild persons emerged from the depths of an urban jungle, the old mother holding each of her babes hands, pulling them behind her, as they all went in search of the basics of childhood.

There was a girl, on her left, with vivacious character, a bright shining head that glowed of intelligence, and the most vicious right hook ever seen in a child. She was delicate, like lace, but so determined and willed that she was named Leia. Any mischief that befell her blood-bretheren, immediately she was there, with fierce punishment, thrashings and stonings. Oh, such a devilish beast, never before had possessed such a sweet little thing. And such pride she took that her mother be so different, she often boasted, loud of tongue, and everyone knew who she and her mother was.

The little boy was Leia's brother, on his mother's right. His character was golden, like the flaxen of his hair, and his round little face shone with sweet and temperence to that of his sister, and such a gay little laugh, devilish voice, and cheery smile had he that only the house of his mother and sister glowed in the middle of the night, and so, his name was Luke. And though he listened to his mother's scoldings and obeyed the letters of law, brilliant deceptions brewed under that angel's halo, and cleverness in his pranks were more feared than the teeth and claws his sister bared.

Indeed, while out walking, thirteen children in a mob came to taunt and jeer and mock the fatherless children, and their unmarried mother, and while they immediately met with the ferocious attacks of the imp, Leia, who'd had all her traps ready at hand, later that night revenge was twice brought up, and a daring plot was discovered in the shape of green demon-toads insides found in their dinners, and no one could be named culprit, but all knew only one hellspawn child could be at blame.

But before all persons present, as Leia danced her wicked spell and chanted her own cursing affects, little Luke held her arm at his side and whispered with such urgency,

"Leia, you must'nt, else mother be at blame for this." Oh, how sweet could a little boy ever be, "Have you no shame, for the woman who protects us from casting out, and kept us as we were still in cradles?"

But the imp simply laughed and scolded her angel brother,

"Luke, how silly of you- it is THEM who should be at shame. For any attack, against a lady, no less, may their manliness never come to be. Only chivalry is rewarded in these times of haughty men- they'll see, when nary a wife will ever smile their way. I simply lay my curses so they never committ again, just watch you, brother: we'll have the last laugh yet!"

So, as his sister was sweetly chivalric, the boy was a devilish prankster, and not a soul in town dare accuse- else the imp child and her demon brother feed them their curse.

But while the sweetness of interbreeding between heaven and hell danced and grew in this little wilderness, over in the heart of the great city planet, evil was spreading, flourishing, and rotting away at the center of the government.

And this is where we shall learn of the father of these delightfully wicked children.

A/N: Sorry this took so long, but NOW, I'm reading Dracula for an English Lit. class and am having ANOTHER brainstorm. So... I'll try and get THIS fic finished soon, while not making it crappy, so I can start on the Dracula story.


	4. The Parishioner and the Governer Hall

Scarlet

By Sapadu

We've not spoken much, yet, of the goings on in the Senate, since Padme left. In her absences, the long stretches of period become heavy with guilt for other Senators, and their minds all beget questioning of the justice that is bestowed. For what purpose is adultery and premarital intercourse forbidden, when there is no damage done? Indeed, the one to disagree with such relations would be Padme herself, for she was the one to be injured by the incident, yet she had no qualms of the younglings she'd bourne.

Only the louse stood strong against these mutterings, occasionally dispatching his arm to silence the more persistent infections on the Senate floor, until there came the conclusion among other speakers that perhaps it was best to simply not disagree with the power of the Imperial Leech, and justice was scrubbed, harsh and brutally from the governing system.

Few knew, though, of the ailments that had seized the parishioning right arm of the Emperor. He was sought with pains in the chest, and the louse, unknowing of the cause, blinded by his thirst for bloody revenge, prescribed the removal of pains and replacement with a false organ, so that any infection simply could not return- when a leech latches for blood, and the tissue dies, there is no need to return, for there is no living thing to feed on anymore.

Instead though, Father Skywalker was lost to further torment. He lost all semblance of healthy weight, and his appetite shriveled with his stomach. His face became pale, and his arms like bone, while his eyes grew darkened as age and his legs crippled as wind blown sticks. Finally, the louse had no alternative, but extracted his adviser from the bones of his once supple body, and placed him into a new shell, mechanized and black as himself.

It was not coincidence by which Padme and her young ones discovered the tragic fate of Skywalker. For on the day of hearings, when Padme went to claim her final rights as a mother to the little ones with offerings to her idols- it was the day of their bearing, and thus, only right that they should be offered some appeasement for their sufferings and patience.

By stroke of fate, the Louse demanded audience with Padme on this day, his wicked thought being that her young ones may know by her voice and be innocent to reveal her fatal secret. As arrival brought Padme to the door of the Emperor's lair, the shiny floor reflected her from bottom up with her young ones holding her hands. Luke pointed to floor, gleeful in his discovery.

"Mother, looket thus! I see your face in the floor- how beast this possible, when thy face is on thy shoulders?" The young one was trustful of his mother to honestly answer, but poor, ailing Padme could only see the red letter that enscribed her breast, not the face that her children linked it to.

"Tis not mine own face, my son- rather some other, goodlier woman who wears my skin as a mask to cover herself. This is the nature of mirrors, for they show the other inside a person's skin, and surely my other self is better than I, whom have done such great wrongs." Padme answered, sinking to her knees and petting the angelic head of her one son, as Leia came from the other side, pulling her mother's arm into an embrace as tight as any her mother had mustered in her young babe days.

"Mother, thou hast nurse'ed us from babes, and loves us with all of thy so declared blackened heart. How couldest this be such a badliness when no other mother cares for her young sparrows as dost thou?" She replied, with all the wit of her mother's diplomatic tongue, causing Padme to laugh, lovely and light.

"Cheeky imp, as thou be- of course I love you both, despite the little monsters you be, but it is not how I care for you that determines my evilness. Indeed, if love brought all salvation, I would be all the more eager to reveal thy father and share the passion we had that begot you two. However, it was that love that hast brought all three of us misery and the truest evil more pleasure." Explained their mother, bringing the two pearls to her chest, in the warmest of embraces.

"Who is this evil, Mother? For we shalt never let him touch thee, else he infect our dear mother and leave us with nothing but hate, to become as horrid as he and ruin the little light left in this world." Luke asked, placing his hand on his mother's cheek and snuggling closer to her.

"Ah, if I could tell thee who he be, I fear accusations of murder." Padme wisely replied, knowing the devilish workings of their little minds, "I know how thou both do plot for the safety of our pride and lives, but it is done overmuch when not needed. Please, do not ask me more." And her sly little imp replied, coy and sweet,

"But Mother, murder is of that who is innocent. Is it not divine justice, and goodlier assassination to destroy a swearer and a liar?" Leia muttered, with an arm around her mother's pulse. Luke, struck in ice cold horror, scolded his sister, remembering his own devilish mind, to absolve them both any alibi.

"Leia, how could'st thou suggest such tricks of devilish stuffs? To take ones life is for honest men to do, and we are nothing of such sorts- all would think of who mother is and assume us to be the same, and thus, even if our own character would prove us not, we'd be damned before a word could be spoken in defense." He gasped in shock to prove innocence.

"Luke, brother! Thou art fool! If the accusers were any smarter to discover that, they'd know to destroy the honest men that still live, for there are more of them evil ones than good." Leia rebutted, patting her foolish brother's head.

At this moment, the doors before them opened and revealed the priestly Skywalker, in his galvanized darkness, masking the face that bore shock at seeing the affectionate scene between the family before him.

The black figure towered over the mother and her children, filling them with impenetrable fear, before ushering them to their purpose of summoning. Padme stood, took her children's hands in hers, and entered the chamber of the Emperor Louse.

A/N: Eh heh... sorry this took so long again. But... it's difficult.


	5. Interrogation of the Twins

Scarlet

By Sapadu

As the Louse sat on his pulpit of darkened wisdom, the awaited woman, with her Imp and Demon Child, entered the room, for his inspection of aid. His sleepless eyes, full of lustings of revenge, landed on the little ones, with a maddening glee of triumph and arrogant certainty.

But he smiled with a deception that only one who knew him could unmask, and greeted the two with cheer that was only thinly veiled as his hellish joy.

"Good Morrow to ones so young and new to this world. If it should not be your mother who brings you, I wonder where your father might be…" The Louse received them, and Padme, being borne of shame from the letter she wore did not speak against his questions.

It was hardly necessary, for the Imp Child, Leia, sprung forward as her Demon Brother clung behind his mother's skirt in a cautious examination of the enemy as his sister made her first attack.

"What does it matter to us who the father should be? Mother suckled us finely enough that a father would only be fit to tear apart and feast upon as extra food." She rebutted, with a sweet, smiling innocence that would have made any other gasp in the horror of her words. The Louse, however, knew no disgust to this idea, for he, himself fed on the suffering of other living things.

"In that meaning, then, that you have no father that you know or care of?" Questioned the Louse, with a determination to find the person responsible for the existence of these two that betrayed no caring for the fate awaiting that miserable wretch.

"That would depend- give me the nature of a father, and I shall tell you how we do." Leia replied, sharply, "For Mother is our Father- if such a thing truly exists- and what purpose would an extra body serve if he could not be a Mother at the same time." It was here the Louse frowned, and rose from his chair to hobble over to the Imp Child, and an aura of imposing menace that reeked of his appetite for blood could be smelt in his wake. Only this hellspawn creature could stand firm as her mother recoiled- oh yes, and her Demon Brother, too.

It was for this reason that Leia's twin came forward, in all semblance of an angel on descent, a grip on his sister's arm pulling her away in the slightest, and halting the progress of the advancing Louse.

"My sister means no offense to you, Emperor- she is overly honest with what she believes at times when passion overtakes her senses. But please be assured that we have no intensity for anything that would cause our Mother trouble, and for that reason, we are contented to be with one parent and each other as family company. It's reasons such as these that give Leia difficulties on the condition of a father, and I would hate to see her suffer any abuse for such a simple reason." Luke explained in a soothing voice of consolation, with a bold gesture that placed himself in danger of the Emperor's path.

The lurking menace stopped before the twins, with a look directed at them desiring knowledge of the bond they shared, which neither of the siblings would disclose.

"So it is apparent," Conceded the Louse, then turning his questions on the boy as Padme stood behind, unable to interfere, "I don't suppose I could ask any questions of similar curiosity to interests of yours?" And Luke tipped his head innocently.

"I fear that all the asking on my part could not derive an answer which does not exist to me." The Demon Boy replied, in an honest twist of what he truly knew, but as the Louse had no suspicions that these children had taught each other and themselves the art of deception so well, it went unnoticed.

The Louse turned away, in mild disappointment, to receive one of the authorities to his left, a schoolmaster, and gave him rule to hold ground before the trio of audience. Purpose discovered or not, the plot had brewed for long among all remaining loyal to the Emperor that this specimen whose adultery bred such should be separated.

"So, would the two before us be standing the children discussed in length, Sir?" He inquired, giving the two a mere glance, "Or should they be little sprites sent to prank us, and the scarlet woman behind them a witch?" The harmless taunt made Padme cringe, for the daily abuses piled upon her by the old women whose eye she remained under constant surveillance had often referred to her in this corrosive manner.

What she did not realize was that her haloed little boy had observed many an old hag back to their lairs before enacting a powerful vengeance of vicious truths that poisoned the wretches' socials and estranged them even further from hospitality than his own dear mother. Indeed, for the cherub-faced boy smiled at his inquirer and replied with ready wit.

"If Mother be a witch, then I am not a sprite, but a wolf-boy sent to protect the Queen of Witches, and eat the liver of any who insult her, such as thine words." Luke declared, proudly, as his Imp Sister watched the Louse behind his throne, preparing for a new attack. The men in the room shared a nervous laugh, as Padme hung her head in shame for inability to control her children's manners. Leia, the imp, with her all-seeing eyes, gave her Demon Brother a nudge, and sent him to tend to their injured Mother whilst she entertained the floor.

"And if my brother be a wolf-boy, then I am simply a trick of light and a breath of the wind, come to play jester for the queen, and a spy for the king, to be learned of the ills cultured in this room. And I must learn quickly, or else my sufferings will be great." She devised her charming smile and radiant glow of character and clever words drawing a spotlight over her that her brother easily evaded to keep their mother upright. The mention of a king, anyway, drew all attention to her speech.

"A king, is there? Why, what kingdom does he rule, and where beast his palace?" Inquired the master, with all bending obedience to the Louse who fed on him, "Surely he must be a great ruler to have such an excellent spy."

"Oh, but he is great- for the greatness in a king is measured only by his intelligence of his own safety. The great king of witches is a marvelous masked man- for he appeared to me once as a little broken doll, then the next time a dog of pure black that stood over our house to keep it from the rain. He speaks only in numbers, and he has never shown me where his palace is, for I could never reach it anyway. His palace is in the sky- the walls are made of the clouds that bring storms, and a carriage of bones drawn by thousands of giant, poisoned snakes brings him to and fro, wherever his heart desires!"

All of the Imp Child's speech was entirely fabricated and embroidered with the design of a young child's imagination and dreams. It was all too soon that the Emperor Louse slumped in defeat and the Master turned his attention from the story in disappointed failure. It was before long that he suggested that Leia tell the story before a class, and let them judge if she may fit with her peers, and possibly a new mother in a clean, warm dwelling and filling food.

Upon this offer did the twins and their inflicted mother realize the intentions of the men before them. And how did Leia respond? But with a laugh and a new tale.

"Oh, but the story is true- the king gave my brother and I to our own Mother as she became queen, with this warning that I tell thee: For else we are kept to her, if stolen or lost, whomever at fault shall bring our king's wrath upon them. Brother dear, tell these mortal beings of their own fates awaiting those who steal us away!" Leia turned to her fair brother with a grandiose gesture, inquire that he come forth. Luke had no means of protest, but willingly continued his Imp Sister's exaggerations.

"It's the truth- the king himself decreed that my sister and I belong only to she who he gave us to, and so our bond is such that every scar Mother bears, we must share it, twice over. And if any ploy pries apart our melded hands, it only sets them free to tear the plotter's head from his neck."

The room echoed with silence, an awe of fear to those words coming from such an innocently smiling little boy, and an even worse dread spreading in their mother's busom that her own babes might spring truth into these subtle threats. And it was with an impending viciousness of doom that a dismissal from the conference was granted to the three apart.

Outside, Padme scolded her two for their wickedness before what little was left of democracy in that room, and Luke and Leia nodded in pretense of obedience, though their bonded devious minds plotted ill.

It was at this time that the pastor, Skywalker, observed the merry chase of children and mother, watching with a suppressed fondness for the family. He had been on the other side of the wall, a spectator of the grim tale Luke and Leia had spun for the Louse's court, and found this time appropriate to meet the little ones, permitting their mother's gaze.

He found himself received with great intentions, for Padme did not recoil while her children boldly sheltered themselves behind their mother's skirts, as though awaiting the father's punishment for their tales of witchcraft from within.

"Too long has it been since to see you standing firm, my love." Father Skywalker said, with a hint of charm which steeled Padme's face as she assumed a defensive cover over her children.

"This is your own doing, as the decency of Republic crumbled under your influence. And, were it not also for your husbandry, but lack of fathering, Luke and Leia would not be in their predicament." She replied, only to alert the demon twins of their monitoring.

A/N: I am SOOOO sorry… but college… eh…


End file.
